Nose
The enticing nose is
reminiscent of a great Blanc de Blancs, with classic yeastiness and vivid fruit and flower
tones, alongside vibrant notes of lemony citrus
Palate
n 2011, the 1989 block brought a beautiful Champagne-like quality to
this wine, with the clone 95 grapes providing plush ripeness. Though this wine is smooth and silky on
the palate, crisp acids give it verve and focus, accentuating the pure, high-toned fruit,
which is unobscured by oak.
Growing Conditions
The June 25th flowering was late, as was veraison, which occurred
on August 25th. While harvest came a month later than normal, our dry desert autumn
afforded us clean ripe fruit. In turn, the cooler fall ripening helped to preserve more acid.
Harvest
Our 1989 block achieved classic ripeness of 21.5º Brix on October 7th. While light,
insignificant rains delayed our clone 95 chardonnay slightly, it came in on October 24th
in perfect condition at 22.5º Brix. The cool year produced pHs of 3.15 and organic acids
of 11g/L. The skins were gold and green and the seeds all ripe brown. With patience, the
harvest was an easy one. Unlike a cool year in Burgundy, rains did not spoil our vintage.
Our dry desert weather allowed ripening to continue long into October.
Bottling
We bottled on August 2, 2012.
Winemaking
After hand sorting the clusters, we whole-cluster pressed all of the fruit.
The raw juice fermented in mature Burgundy barrels and was lees stirred. In February
we blended to age finally in concrete and completed malolactic fermentation. Though
this wine is normally dominated by the 1989 block, for the first time the rich, ripe toned
clone 95 grapes comprise 40 percent of the blend. It provides surprising richness in this
cooler vintage. This wine is naturally heat and cold stable
between 45ºF to 90ºF.
